TRENTON — Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni will be allowed to frolic before facing the music.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Douglas E. Arpert signed an order permitting the removal of the former Mayor Tony Mack co-conspirator’s electronic monitoring device. Giorgianni will also be allowed to travel to JoJo’s Steakhouse on the 1200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for “legitimate business purposes only and is not permitted to loiter at this location,” according to court documents.

Giorgianni admitted during his plea agreement with the feds that he handed Mack an $8,000 bribe in the back area of the infamous sandwich shop.

“It was an appropriate relaxation of the conditions of his pretrial release,” Giorgianni’s attorney Jerome Ballarotto said Thursday. “He’s been on house arrest for a very long time — he’s still on house arrest — only he doesn’t have the electronic monitoring and he’s been given a curfew.”

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Giorgianni’s curfew is between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and his travel is limited to New Jersey. He must also account for his time with pretrial services when he is absent from his Ewing home.

“He’s by no means a free man,” Ballarotto said. “He still has to account for his whereabouts and where he’s going and when he goes. It is appropriate under all the circumstances.”

Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office opposed the request for the removal of Giorgianni’s ankle bracelet. But prosecutors deferred the request for Giorgianni’s visitation to his rental properties to pretrial services.

Ballarotto argued his client suffers from significant health issues, which causes his legs to swell, leading to “chaffing and redness” where the monitoring device was located. Sores may develop putting Giorgianni — a convicted child molester — at risk for infection, Ballarotto stated in court documents.

Ballarotto had a similar motion denied in November, also highlighting the health issues.

But shortly afterwards — several weeks before Giorgianni was set to face charges with Mack and Mack’s brother Ralphiel in January — he accepted a plea deal with the feds.

He also cooperated with the government’s investigation by admitting he gave the former mayor an envelope of cash at his sandwich shop in the presence of his longtime girlfriend Mary Manfredo, who took the stand against the Macks, helping to seal their fate.

In February, Tony Mack was convicted by a jury on six counts of extortion, bribery, and mail and wire fraud for his participation in a parking garage development scheme set up by the feds. His brother was also convicted on three counts of extortion and bribery in the scheme.

In a separate case, Giorgianni — along with Manfredo — pleaded guilty in December to their involvement in an oxycodone distribution ring based out of JoJo’s Steakhouse.

Giorgianni’s sentencing is scheduled for July 15. He has worn his electronic monitoring device since September 2012.

About the Author

Originally from Webster, N.Y., David has been a reporter in N.J. for the past three years (first in Phillipsburg and now in Trenton).He is a Temple alum who interned at the Philadelphia Daily News. Reach the author at dfoster@trentonian.com
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